Rowland S. Howard figured prominently in my last post, the video mix tape. There was a video of him performing "She Cried," A Horrors video that quotes the same song, and then a video of, probably, his best known song song "Shivers" sung by his pal Nick Cave with their band The Boys Next Door. Since he's been so deep in my subconscious lately by directing the progress of my mixes and popping up repeatedly every time I hit shuffle on my phone lately, I thought it would be cool to post one of his records to share his genius with anyone out there who isn't as familiar with him as they should be. The problem is, Howard has had such a long career of putting out incredible music with some of the most innovative artists in the music industry that I had a really hard time picking just one record to post. What follows is, by no means, a comprehensive list of all of his work, but this post includes some of my favorite records that feature Howard in a prominent role, including his two solo albums, Teenage Snuff Film and Pop Crimes which are, in my opinion, his finest works. Best known as the discordant guitarist in The Birthday Party, and highly influential as such, Rowland S. Howard has played guitar, sung, and wrote songs with numerous bands and has had a pretty brilliant career as a solo artist as well. Starting out in The Boys Next Door, the band he started with Nick Cave and later transforming into The Birthday Party, Howard and Cave have had a long, albeit tumultuous relationship. Howard occasionally recorded as a Bad Seed (some backing vocals, namely on Let Love In), but by then I don't think they were speaking much. I'm not really sure about their personal history, to be honest. Anyway, they also worked together on the Lydia Lunch album, Honeymoon in Red which was later re-worked with some contributions from Thurston Moore. I'm gonna let the music speak for itself here. Rowland S. Howard died in 2009.
The Boys Next Door--Door, Door (1979)
The Birthday Party--Junkyard (1982)
The Birthday Party--Live, 1981-1982
Honeymoon in Red--Honeymoon in Red (1983)
Crime and The City Solution--Room of Lights (1986)
These Immortal Souls--Get Lost (Don't Lie) (1987)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds--Let Love In (1994)
Rowland S. Howard--Teenage Snuff Film (2000)
Rowland S. Howard--Pop Crimes (2009)
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